Strictly Come Dancing fans fury as the show must go on

Hundreds of complaints flooded into the Birmingham NIA after the decision was made yesterday afternoon to go ahead with last night's show despite the transport network grinding to a halt.

The show's promoters chose to press ahead as normal, offering a limited number of tickets for Sunday night's performance for exchange. But they said no refunds would be given because the show was going ahead.

One of the show's stars, Denise Van Outen, caused a storm of her own after responding to a tweet from one fan unable to make the show with the message: "It's only snowing love." Her response was met with fury from some on Twitter.

While most of the West Midlands battened down the hatches after hours of constant snowfall yesterday, determined Strictly devotees braved the blizzards to see the stars of the show dance live in Birmingham on the launch night of their 2013 tour.

Anxious fans spent much of yesterday expecting an announcement the show would be postponed as the region's transport network rapidly ground to a halt. But at 2pm producers surprised many by saying following discussions with the promoter, they were carrying on regardless.

Bosses said a limited number of tickets could be exchanged for seats at Sunday night's show on a first come first served basis, but that refunds would not be issued because the performance was going ahead.

Hardy and determined souls, including many pensioners and families with young children, faced hours in traffic, lengthy train delays and treacherous bus journeys to get to the Birmingham NIA in time for the 7.30pm start.

But the decision to stage the show sparked fury from hundreds of fans, who said making the journey was impossible for them. Others spoke of their anger at having spent hundreds of pounds on tickets as presents that would not be refunded.

The NIA's Facebook site was also swamped with complaints.

At the arena, audience members were excited to see their Strictly heroes, if a little frustrated at their ordeals in getting there.

Karen and Brent Starbuck, of Sedgley, tried unsuccessfully to contact their ticket supplier to change them so decided to make the journey anyway. And Shirley and Bethany Teece from Shrewsbury said their journey along the M54 and M6 had been a "nightmare".

A spokesperson for the NIA said they had spoken with the Highways Agency and Birmingham City Council about the state of the roads before making the decision.

Jean Wereik, aged 76, arrived with four friends, from Stirchley, Birmingham. Services were eventually stopped at 7pm for safety reasons. "It should have been cancelled, I can't believe they went ahead."